The Baltic Brawl
by MCButler
Summary: A body is discovered in the Thames, and this has grave consequences for someone who is linked to Alex.


**Hey everyone, this is my entry for the December Fanfiction exchange. This is the first time I've taken part, and its been a lot of fun. I did a large chunk of it in the first week of December, but then i have had lots of school work to do, so i have had to finish it frantically over the last few days. Therefore, I do apologise if the quality of my writing is rather lacking. Anyway, my prompt was "Alex is at school and one of his teachers/ Ms. Bedfordshire/ Mr Bray finds out he's a spy." and i choose to focus on Ms. Bedfordshire. Hope you enjoy!**

 **P.S: The first section is heavily influenced by one of my favourite books, can you guess what it is?**

 **09/12/2002;**

Thick clouds bore down on London all night, as if it was a wolf holding its prey in place. On the cities western stretches, plumes of rain drifted across the banks of the river Thames, like smoke from a candle. The river and the rain merged into a grey-blue mess, broken only by the concrete rivet banks which lined the Thames as it weaved through the city. Everything was silent, no lights were seen, which was especially rare in a city as big as this. The city never sleeps, apart from now when it seemed as if the people and the hustle and bustle of the capital had vanished in an instant.

Oswald Russell, homicide inspector for Scotland Yard, climbed out of his black Vauxhall Insignia and let the all too familiar rain wash across his tired face. He took a sip from his flask of tea as he leant against the railings which followed the edge of the road, until they reached a set of steps leading down to the river itself. He was a connoisseur of rain, but I suppose every man and woman and England could claim they were, they had all experience more than enough of it in their rather dreary lifetimes. But Russell really was a specialist. He knew the taste of it, the smell of it. Cold British rain, from the Atlantic, whipping across from the west as it tears through Ireland and the stretch of England before reaching the heights of London. When he was younger he had felt the wrath of the rain as he hiked with his parents across the hills as they visited his grandparents in Scotland, and then as he grew older he had studied it as his interest in meteorology grew, but now he loathed it.

The small cold drops of rain covered his nice watch that his wife had bought him many years ago. The time read 06:53. Next to his car, there were some others, perfectly lined up, like soldiers being inspected. Two of them were Jaguar XJ's, sleek and stylish, yet practical and fast, the perfect car for the British secret service. The sound of drive time radio with the grating voice of Chris Evan's leaked out the window of one of the cars, whilst the second driver seemed to be listening to classical music. The other car was a white Ford Focus, with the instantly recognisable yellow and blue markings plastered across it. It was a standard issue police vehicle, the common "Bobby's" car. The flashing blue light revolved around the top of the car, illuminating the rather grey and boring landscape of the London streets. Russell scouted the landscape for the men in uniform, the police who had alerted him in the first place and the reason for him being out of bed at such a horrible time. He saw them huddling around a man who looked rather fed up, dressed in fluorescent clothing as if he was a neon advertising screen. He wore black running shorts, alongside his striking yellow Adidas top and black Nike running shoes. He had his eyes closed, and his hands behind his head as he lent against the wall. He was surrounded by three men, and looked very uncomfortable. Russell felt for the man. He was most likely just running alongside the river and got caught up in whatever had happened, and as a result of it had been standing around in the rain whilst various officers asked him pretty much the same questions, all taking different interpretations of his tale. The investigator took one last sip of the tea, before venturing down the steps and joining the police. He ignored the scowling looks from one of the policemen, as he walked past them, and inspected the corpse which had been laid out on the concrete bank in front of him.

It was a man, looked around thirty, quite slim but was toned and slightly muscular, jet black hair, and porcelain white skin. From a distance one may have thought that a statue collector had been fly tipping, and dropped a marble body into the river. But up close, it was most definitely a corpse. Without looking at the man Russell inquired, "What's your name, officer?". The man replied with a gruff voice, "Jonathan Birling" he said, speaking eloquently, and he had now lost the scowling face that had previously addressed him. Birling, tired and his skin completed soaked through, seemed eager to impress. Russell had worked long enough to know the type, in fact in the past he was probably much the same. A regular police officer, who had applied for a transfer to investigative police work, wanted to become a detective and use his skills where they were actually useful, rather than locking up bastards who get rowdy after a drink on a Friday night. He most likely had a loyal wife and three teenage children who kept them both on their toes. She was most likely the real bread winner of the family, police wages weren't exactly lucrative. "Well Birling, what time was the man discovered?" He asked, in a soft voice which seemed to ease all into a sense of security. "He was discovered almost two hours ago" Birling said, and then added, "Oh and as you may have seen, we have the man here who discovered him." He said pointing to the man who was shivering in his rather inadequate clothing. The man came to attention, no longer leaning against the wall. He could pass for early twenties, but Russell's intuition told him otherwise. He was obviously pretty well off, hence the branded sports clothing and the expensive headphones which he had now noticed, suggesting that he was most likely older with a better paying job, and had just been lucky with his genetics and had kept himself in good shape. "And your name?" Russell asked, approaching the man slowly, so not to startle him. "Mark Elliot; from the foreign office." He said with a strong Scottish accent, as he brushed his brow, clearing the droplets which had collated on his head. "I run here most mornings, mainly to clear my head and to escape the beautiful, yet rather impending monolith that is the foreign office in Whitehall." He murmured before saying "It was dark at first and I just saw a gleam of white in the water, thinking it was a swan, but as he bobbed up and down I realised what it was." Realising that the man was obviously rattled by what he had seen, Russell asked the man in a kind, gentle tone, as if he was an older brother, "Did you see anyone else, Elliot?" The man thought, but looked at him and said, "No one I can remember, as soon as I saw it I rang the police on my phone. It was ten to five, there was no one in sight, and things were very quiet. I waited for the police to arrive, and have stayed here ever since."

Looking back at the motionless corpse, "Right, he needs to be moved, time to stop your colleagues from nattering and do their job, Birling." He said, looking at the officer. The men came over, as the rain lashed down at an even stronger rate, and helped pick the man up. There was a slightly odd stench which the corpse emitted, a mixture of the smell of dirty Thames water, and flesh. The rain pattered on the concrete streets and drummed on the roofs of the four cars which were lined up on the street which was next to the river. Russell, now looking like a drowned rat, with water trickling down his neck, was oblivious to the weather. He was excited; it was the start of a new case. The promise of adventure awaited.

He was fifty three, soon to be fifty four- however he had still maintained his slim athletic figures which were routed in his spritely youth and extensive field work. During the cold war, and the fight against the Soviets which he had a real connection with, he had been nicknamed "The Octopus", due to his ability to fit in with any group of people and infiltrate with ease, yet he could escape with equal professionalism and cover his tracks as an octopus does with ink. However Russell preferred the name "The Grey Wolf" which fitted his now older personality, and grey hair.

Suddenly one more car joined the chain. This one was a rather dilapidated Rover, well past its best, which rattled along as it moved. The door flung open, and Russell who had noticed the appearance of the car was surprised that the door didn't fall off with the state that it was in. "Oi Oz" the man who had emerged from the car shouted. "Come on down chalky, you'll like this one." Russell replied as he looked upon his friend, a surgeon and a pathologist. He was a year or two younger than him, but they hadn't been so kind to his friend and he was now rather bloated, with a bald head and pasty white skin. His rather ghostly complexion led to his nickname when the two had worked together, Chalky. He stood over the course and brought out his camera, which was still film, partially just to annoy his younger colleagues, but also due to the fact that he was part of the old guard and continued to work in the way he had been taught. The camera flashed as it took a picture of the corpse, illuminating it for a brief second. It was quite a ghastly site. The body of a formerly spritely young man, was lacking two fingers on his right hand, and had multiple lacerations across his legs. His friend continued to take pictures of the subject, and began pushing and pressing the body. "So Doctor, what is your opinion? What state is the poor man in?" Russell asked before Chalky got too involved. "The fingers have been amputated very poorly, definitely happened fairly recently. The lacerations to his legs look as if they are from natural causes; they aren't cuts from a knife or surgical equipment. Rigour mortis set in a while ago, I would say he has been dead around 18-24 hours, but it's hard to tell in this sort of timeframe." Sirens wailed in the distance, but became ever louder as it approached their location. The ambulance pulled up. "Well that took long enough" said one of the police officers who was lighting a cigarette. Russell looked on at the man with a secret disapproving look. He despised the smell of cigarette smoke, with a passion. He was one of the few people in his rather stressful profession who didn't smoke. Perhaps it was because it reminded him of his rather troubled childhood in which he spent many a time in smoke filled rooms. Either way it was something which greatly annoyed the man. The corpse was loaded up into the ambulance and whisked away. Oswald Russell was ever more intrigued.

 **One week later; 16/12/2002;**

Alex took a deep breath.

"Come on Alex, you need to get a move on, if you don't leave soon, you'll be late and that's not exactly a great impression to make on your first day back. " Jack said, as she closed the door, leaving Alex outside by himself. He took another breath, put on his helmet and began cycling the old familiar path to school. With the new headphones jack had bought him, alongside a new computer and some other bits, Alex listened to some music on the way to school. It was odd, the last time he had been back to school things had gone horrifically. He hoped that this time nothing bad would happen.

Ad he approached the gates of the school, he hopped off his bike and wheeled it to the bike shed. The school had somewhat changed, some of the old buildings were no longer there, the difference colour of ground the only reminder that they were ever there, and there was now a grand mural which commemorated five years since Princess Diana's death. There were some other changes, but none that anyone without Alex's keen eye would be able to see. There were snipers on the roofs of houses, courtesy of MI6 no doubt, so to reduce the chances of someone targeting him.

Trying to ignore the snipers, Alex moved into the reception where he was supposed to be collecting his timetable for the day. "Oh hello Alex, it's good to see you back" Ms. Bedfordshire exclaimed as he walked through the doors and moved towards her desk. Alex looked at her; she was as incredibly good looking as she had been the last time he was at school. Whilst Alex had feelings for Sabine, Ms. Bedfordshire's beauty was undeniable. She was 23, and could quite easily pass for a supermodel. She wasn't your typical school receptionist. "It's nice to see you too Miss. How are you?" Alex replied, as she got up from her desk and walked round to the printer. "Oh I'm okay, just getting by, things have been hard the last few days. In fact this is my first day back as well. My brother was killed in action whilst on military service. I've been off for the last few days to process what's happened, and I'm back in today. Seeing you though has lifted my spirits. It's good to know that there is someone that I can make a difference for." She said as she plucked the timetable from the printer and handed it to Alex. She wiped a tear from her eye. "Alex, are you okay with hugs? I could really do with a hug." She whispered, wiping more tears away from her cheeks. "Of course miss, I'm deeply sorry for your loss, my parents died when I was young, and my uncle died a couple of years ago. I won't lie, it will be hard, but things will get better over time." He said as he gave her a gentle hug. "Thank you Alex" she said as she sniffled slightly. "You're more than welcome Miss, anything I can do to help, just ask" he said smiling. He had gone through the process of grieving and it was a long hard road, he just hoped she would stay on it and come out of it better than she was now.

Alex walked into the school's courtyard and looked at his timetable. He had Maths, English, Break, History, Biology, Lunch and then Physics. It was going to be a busy day and a rather hard one at that. Alex saw a familiar face around the corner. "Oi Rider, your back!" exclaimed the boy who began running over. He gave Alex a big bear hug. "Oh wow, that's a pretty strong hug Tom. Don't crush me" Alex replied laughing. "It's good to see you too...". Tom looked at Alex, still the same person he knew, but slightly changed. He no longer laughed at the things he used to, and was much more serious. He was constantly on edge, but he hid it well. Tom noticed, but didn't want to probe Alex too much; he didn't want to bring up any bad memories. "So how has therapy been?" He said putting a hand on Alex's shoulder as they both walked to maths. "Hmm" Alex muttered as he thought to himself. What was he to say? It's been okay, I've avoided death more times than I can count on my fingers, travelled the world, seen to many people die, been traumatised by the things I've experienced. "It's been okay, things aren't perfect but going forward things are going to be more stable hopefully" he said. It wasn't a lie, but neither was it the full truth.

Alex managed to get through the day, he'd caught up with the majority of work they had been set, and the stuff he hadn't he was already more skilled into due to his "Vocational experiences" from the past. It was boring, and not exactly intellectually challenging, but it was necessary for him to feel like he was doing something that everyone else had to go through.

Once the day was over and the clock struck 3, Alex pedalled furiously on his bike so to get home. He got back in record time, and slumped on the sofa. His first day had been exhausting, lots of information, talking to lots of people and the emotional stress of it all rolled together had taken it out of him. Just as Alex has been drifting off to sleep on the sofa, he was awoken by the shrill ringtone of the home phone. Alex begrudgingly picked up the phone as Jack was out studying on her new university course. "Hello, it's Alex Rider, but I can take a message for Jack Starbright if you need. How may I be of assistance?" He said and waited for a reply. "I'm sorry Alex, but it's me, Mrs. Jones. I hate to say, but your needed." Alex sighed "What's happened now? You can't cope for just a couple of months without me?" "Alex! Cut your petty behaviour, this is important, and you are the best agent for the situation we have been put in. It also regards someone you know, so we thought it best if you knew. Make your way to Vauxhall cross as quickly as possible." She said, and then the phone went. Snappy, short and sharp. She's becoming more and more like Blunt, Alex remarked to himself as he ran to his room to change out of his school clothes, and got a fresh shirt on and a smart pair of navy trousers. He got his polished brown oxford shoes on as well and the made his way out of the house. He walked along the street, bustling with children making their way back home after school and business men going out for lunch. After arriving at the Old Church Street station, he caught a train to Victoria station, and then another short trip to Vauxhall station, zipping its way around London along the underground, and a short walk from there to the grand building that housed the Secret service, the SIS building. It was huge, overwhelming and had a rather foreboding atmosphere to it. It was clearly influenced by many different things, the geometric style of the Mayans and Egyptians, the Babylonian grandeur and then the brutalist concrete construction materials which it was made out of.

Mrs Jones sat at her desk, looking out onto the dark, dreary landscape that London was at this time of year. Whilst the desk was the same, Mrs Jones and Blunt ran things very differently. Blunt was focussed on results, trying to keep MI6's stake in security safe, whilst Jones played by the book and there was no need to risk breaking rules for maintaining their position of importance. She turned away from the large window in front of her and looked at the old clock. It was a little over four pm, and her two visitors were set to arrive at any moment. The seconds hand slowly moves around the clock face, and just as expected the familiar sound of Russell's shoes echoed through the open plan office that she had now.

"Oswald Russell, the man of the moment. It's good to see you, but sad that it is in these circumstances. Alex should be here soon as well." She said as she offered him a seat in front of her dark wooden desk. "Would you like a drink?" She asked as he took her offer if the chair. "I agree, it's sad that only death seems to bring a team together. The offer of a drink does sound nice. A tea please." He said politely as the door flung open. "Hello Mrs Jones, sorry for the wait, I just got out of school. Who do we have here?" Alex exclaimed rather energetically as he sat down on the chair beside Russell. "It's nice to finally meet the young man Mrs Jones talks so much about. I worked alongside your father at one point on a case, a forensic investigation. He was a truly brilliant man. Anyway, I'm Oswald Russell and you are Alex Rider." He said as he gripped Alex's hand for a firm but fair handshake. "Well now that we are all acquainted, we best get down to business." Mrs Jones sighed as she brought out a suitcase and put it on her desk. She pulled two Manilla folders out of it, and slid them in front of the two men. "On the 9th of December in the early morning a body was discovered in the Thames. Some photos of the corpse are on page 6, Oz will explain things further." Alex glanced at the man, who slid his fingers across the photos, pointing out various details about the images. "We believe he had been cold for around a day before we found him. Due to his condition we can presume that he was dead before he entered the water, meaning that he wasn't drowned. The area in which he was found in the River suggests he was dumped somewhere off the coast of the South East and then spent a day drifting through the Thames. The man received some lacerations to both of his legs and had his index finger and middle finger on his right hand rather shoddily amputated." said the investigator, who then took a deep breath and shot a rather foreboding look in the direction of Mrs Jones. "...He...he was an agent of ours. That's why your here Alex. The man was your Uncle Ian's partner in the field for much of his working life, and had previously been part of the Armed forces, military service being cover for his missions." She said, and was met with a quizzical expression from Alex. "Okay...but why do you want me here?" He said. Once again Mrs Jones replied "His name was John Bedfordshire, he was the older brother of Ms Jane Bedfordshire, who happens to be your school receptionist. Due to the high stakes operation which John was operating, we fear that his sister might become a target for what remains of Scorpia or any other group that tries to fill the power vacuum which ensues after Scorpia's demise. His funeral is next week and seeing as your uncle was close friends with him we thought it might be good for you to go to the funeral, which is happening next week. You will serve both as protection for her and moral support. She lost both her father and mother a few years ago in a car accident, which she may or may not have mentioned, and now she has lost her brother." Alex nodded at her. He now understood that Jane's pain wasn't just due to her brother's passing, it reminded her of her parent's death. "Of course, so when is the service?" He asked, and was given the reply "This coming Saturday, 8 am. Be there on time, the service itself starts at 9. Once again, thank you Alex, I know this must be hard for you as well. All you want to do is go back to the day to day life you lived before your uncles death. Oh and before you go, I thought you might like these." She said pulling out some photos of his uncle and a man he didn't recognise but could work out who it was. "He looked so much like his sister." He remarked as he took the photos from her and placed them in his bag.

The shrill beeping sound of the alarm awoke Alex. It was Saturday, 7am. The rest of the week since his meeting with Mrs Jones had flown by, and he had enjoyed it. Meeting up with old friends, making new ones, learning new content in lessons, talking to Ms Bedfordshire. It was all very nice, but exhausting. Whilst rather groggy, Alex managed to get himself into the shower and he freshened up. He changed into the black suit he wore for his uncle's funeral. He polished his black shoes and waited for the polish to dry whilst he wolfed down his breakfast which he needed to have before he left. At 07:30 the phone rang awakening Jack who picked it up. "Hello, this is Jack starbright, guardian of Alex Rider, who is this?" She said before waiting for a reply. "Hello Miss Starbright, how are you? It's Mrs Jones, I was just checking in to make sure that Alex was okay before going to the funeral. Is he?" Jack stopped for a moment and then said "Oh yes, he is fine, just finishing polishing his shoes before he goes. He looks smart, and will be there by 8, an hour before the service starts. I'm sorry I have to go, but it was nice talking to you."

"I best be off" Alex said as he got his shoes on, and then put on a black coat so to keep him vaguely warm on a rather cold day in December. Set to go, he walks out the door and made his way towards the Church in which the funeral was to take place. As Alex walked down the road he looked around, something seemed different. Suddenly it hit him, a red phone box had been restored and was now gleaming. There was a man inside it who seemed to be passionately arguing with someone. Not wanting to be nosy, Alex thought nothing more of it and walked off. Completely oblivious to the man who had left the newly restored phone box, Alex continued to walk along the path through the park towards the church. He noticed the contrast between the gentle songs of the birds with the sound of the bustling city. Small flakes of snow began to fall, resting on his nose as melting as if they never existed. The man who had been in the phone sat down on the bench in the park as Alex continued, he wasn't far from his destination now. "Target one in view, should I take him out?" Queried the man who seemed to be talking to no one, but was actually talking to a woman who was half his age and halfway around the world from him. "No, hold the shot, follow him. We need both targets before we move onto stage two of the operation. Go back to the phone box and track some of the other bugged communication lines." "Ok Sparrow, your command will be carried out" said the man who stood up and made his way towards the church, catching up with Alex, and then popping into a Coffee shop which was across the road from the graveyard and church.

Alex still focussed on the funeral checked his watch as he walked through the gates of the graveyard which was linked to the Church. It was 07:58 and he saw Jane walking in from the other entrance, who hadn't noticed him. He went into the church which had now been opened and took a seat at the back of the church, trying to keep himself to himself. Time passed by as Alex looked up at the brilliant paintings on the ceiling of the church, and the ornate architecture of the building. As the hands on the clock reached 09:00, the congregation stood up, and the music began. Alex was transported back to his uncle's car, driving along the winding B roads on the way to Scotland the year before he died. They played the song so many times and was Alex's introduction to 70's music. The lyrics of (Don't fear) The Reaper washed over him liked water off a duck's back. "All our times have come, here but now they're gone, seasons don't fear the reaper, nor do the wind, the sun or the rain, we can be like they are". Alex was mesmerized by the lyrics, the last time he had listened to the song was the day after Ian's funeral. A tear ran down his cheek as the coffin, draped in a union jack, was brought down the aisle and placed at the front of the church.

The service itself flew by, and after speaking to the family everyone gradually left, leaving just Jane and him. Still focussed on her brother, Jane hadn't known of Alex's presence. He approached her gently as she sat and looked at her brother's coffin which was to be buried later. "Hello Ms Bedfordshire, I came to pay my respects." He said as she turned to him rather shocked. "Ohh Alex, I didn't expect to see you here, but it's nice to see you, I hardly know any of the other people who came." Alex put a hand on her shoulder and sat down next to her, pulling out the photograph from his pocket. "I want you to have this, I found out that my Uncle and your brother were good friends from Jack, he had talked about their friendship to her apparently and after i had said that your brother had passed away Jack told me everything. At first I was sceptical, but hearing your music choice confirmed it for me. It was the song Ian wanted at his funeral and he played it when we used to go on holiday to Scotland and visit family. I think they knew each other through the military, and this photo was taken by Ian when they were on a mission together" he said smiling at her as yet another tear fell down his face. Alex wasn't one for emotion, but the floodgates had opened on two years of grief and it was pouring out. She smiled back at him as she placed the photo on the top of the coffin and a tear dropped off her cheek as well. She pulled Alex into a hug, and at first he was slightly resistant, but over time it felt nice. He hugged her back and things felt better, a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "Would you like to go for a walk?" She asked, "Only if you want to, I'm sure you're a busy boy."

"Of course, there's something I have to do first, but will join you afterwards." He said as he made his way out of the church and towards his uncle's grave. It had been well maintained, but even so it looked rather gloomy. Alex reached into his pocket again and pulled out a second copy of the picture, placing it on the grave, a picture which showed his true self. Enjoying himself and being the kind person who he was. Alex's emotional moment was disturbed by the scream of a woman, and he turned around to see Jane being manhandled and pushed into a car and it then began speeding off down the road. Alex, running on instinct and adrenaline began chasing down the car. He followed it down the road and managed to somewhat close the distance between them due to the traffic. He saw the van turn down the street which was ahead of him, so he took a shortcut to the end of the street. It was a long street with no exits down the sides, meaning Alex would be in the perfect position to get into the vehicle. Alex ran through an alleyway and made his way to the pelican crossing and waited for the van to appear. He waited a few minutes and nothing appeared. He couldn't understand, there was nowhere for them to go. He pulled out his phone and called Mrs Jones, "Mrs Jones it's incredibly important, at the end of the funeral Jane Bedfordshire was kidnapped by some men, they were in a white VW van. I've completely lost track of them..." He said, and out of nowhere a bat appeared and knocked Alex to the ground and he was out cold. Mrs Jones picked up Alex's call "Alex, what's the matter? Alex? What's happened?" The sound of Mrs Jones words came out of Alex's phone which was now cracked and on the ground, but he wasn't there to hear them.

"Wake up!" The man shouted as he slapped Alex in the face. Completely startled, Alex awoke with no idea what was going on. "Where are we?" Alex asked to the beast of a man who stood over him. "Your death bed, now shut up and stand up. Your fancy receptionist has been asking for you." Alex's eye's flared "You haven't hurt her, have you?" The beast smiled back at him, "Oh, so you care about her? Hurt is a strong word, you'll have to ask her. You're going to spend a lot of time with her." He pulled Alex off the ground and pushed him into a room which was dark. The lights were suddenly switched on. "Wow they're bright, what is this? The Spanish Inquisition?" He said joking around, and he turned around and saw a woman lying on the floor exhausted. "Jane? Are you okay?" He said shocked at what he saw. "Oh Alex it's good to see you, and I could be worse, just some bruises and grazes." Their conversation was interrupted by the beast and the two men beside him, slightly shorter than he was, but they had guns aimed on both him and Jane and it would be foolish to try and make a move. The man opened a door opposite them, revealing a small metal room, two metres wide, two metres deep and two tall. It was a chrome box in which they were to spend the rest of their days in, the few that remained for them. "Strip off into your underwear, help each other if you need to, but once you're done get into the room or you will pay for it." He said as he projected a live feed from Alex's home. Jack was in the kitchen on the phone looking rather angry. The feed then swapped to Jane's best friend who was sitting on a bench in the middle of Hyde Park, and it then panned over to the position of a sniper, trained on the woman. "Okay, we get the idea." Alex said as he began to take off his clothes. His black jacket and trousers were still in pristine condition, his shoes were rather scuffed however and his tie had been ripped when the men were moving him around. He took them all off until it was just him and his boxers. Jane had it slightly more difficult, for the funeral she had worn an elegant tight fitting black dress which hugged her figure in all the right places, but was a bloody pain to get on and off. "Alex, could you come and help me with this..." She mumbled as she flicked off her shoes and put her long brunette hair in a messy bun so to keep it away from the top of the dress. Alex slowly undid the main zipper of the dress which ran down her back. "Would you like anything else?" He replied, looking at her. "Yes, could you help me peel the dress off" she said laughing slightly. They were in a dangerous situation, a near life or death one to be exact, yet she still managed to be the beautiful, young and bubbly woman that she was and always had been. Alex obliged and helped her get the dress off. He tried to resist the temptation to look but that soon finished when the two of them were pushed into the box together. It would be "Cosy" to say the least. He looked at her incredible body. If he was a Christian he would have praised God and Jesus for the most beautiful angel to have walked on earth, if he was a Muslim he would have praised her as the greatest gift to them from the Prophet Mohammed. Alex was neither, he was a fifteen Year old boy who was deeply enthralled by her luscious curves and drop dead gorgeous figures, and couldn't help but look at her breasts which were half exposed. She was perfect, at least it seemed that way. "I'm sorry miss, this is not the way you should see me, and it's probably nor the way I should see you. But however unruly things may be I will try not to touch you." "Oh Alex, stop being stupid. Haven't you seen a naked woman, let alone me wearing a bra and knickers?" She said in a straight pan voice. "Well I'm still pretty young and for your information, I haven't seen any naked women, at least not being pressed up against one in a metal box." he replied, laughing slightly. He tried to keep himself calm, but it was quite hard when you were looking right at the most beautiful woman you know, who you might have a bit of a crush on, who happens to be wearing next to nothing.

Whilst they bickered among themselves, the Beast stood against the warehouse door and banged them. The door rolled up and the sound of the lorry reversing into the room reverberated, echoing off the high ceiling. The box which Alex and Jane were being held, was lifted onto the lorry alongside the 20 other soundproof metal containers. It shook as it clanked against the other boxes and the men who surrounded the Beast jumped up onto the truck and tied the box down. "What was that?" Jane said, abandoning their petty talk. "I think we just got moved. We aren't being held in this box, we're being transported as if we are goods." Jane flicked the hair out of her face and looked into Alex's eye's. She was serious now, the same look she gave him when he came back to school for the first time. "Alex, what's going on? I mean why are we so important that we were taken prisoner, and how did they know that it was my brother's funeral today?" She said, then adding "And Alex, don't play coy with me, I'm pretty sure I know why, but I need to hear it from you." Alex's face lit up with relief. "Ohh I'm glad, it's terrible trying to hide it from you and everyone else, and I thought that you had a sneaking suspicion of what was going on. I'm a secret agent who works for MI6, my uncle was also an agent and he got my into the agency. Your brother was once in the army but joined the secret service and had been part of it for around 5 years before his death. He was on a mission when he was found KIA. I'm so sorry you weren't told the truth, but we are still no closer to finding out who killed him. However I'm sure that his death has something to do with our capture, they want something from us which your brother didn't give them. " he said breathing heavily. "Wow, that's a weight of my shoulders." "My thoughts were confirmed then, and I'm glad that you did tell me." She smiled back at him. Suddenly a hatch above them opened, with the warm light which came in from the ventilation shaft replaced by the harsh industrial lights of the warehouse. "Night night, sleep well!" The man said, laughing as he dropped a canister of some sort. A moment after the hatch closing, a hissing sound began as a gas began to escape from the canister. Everything went a shade of blue, and before they knew it both Alex and Jane had passed out.

"What do you mean we have no trace of them? You're the bloody secret service with satellites looking over every country, listening in on every countries leader, but you can't bloody find a boy and a woman? What on earth is the world coming to? I see why Blunt left the job, Alex does seem to get himself into precarious situations." Said Russell, who had been dragged into this operation after it was found that the body of John Bedfordshire was moved a total of 3.2 miles and then stopped. The problem was that its location was in the middle of multi storey high-rise building, it could be on any number of the levels. "I am Tulip Jones, madam you will listen to me thank you very much. Wait a second and I will find you the information you require..." She said pulling the phone away from her head whilst Russell beckoned at her. "Blunt left the job because he had become too engrained in it; he was one of the old guard and would never have survived the change to the service after 9/11. Like you his roots were in the Cold War, where things were black and white. You were the guardian of all things good and the communists were there trying to take it all away and enforce their tyrannical beliefs upon you. When it came to the Afghanistan War he was one of the proponents of arming the Mujahedin. He supported Osama Bin Laden who bankrolled the fight against the Russian's. Less than ten years ago he was heralded as an "Anti-Soviet hero puts his army on the road to peace." Those groups we armed to fight the Communists, they were the ones who joined together to form the likes of al-Qaeda. It was British men who taught them how to make a bomb, it was American men who taught them how to shoot a gun, how to hijack vehicles, and now look at things. That day in September ruined Blunt, and Alex's misfortune is a result of that more than anything. Anyway, sorry for me rant, Blunt was a lovely man who's just not fit for the job anymore." She said, brushing herself down before returning to the call she was busy with. Russell turned away and went to make a cup of tea for them both. When he returned she had finished the call and was sat at the desk with her head in her hands. As he placed a tea in front of her, he said "For the record, I tried to convince them that arming radical Muslims in the cold war will end up as it always has, them using them back on us. We armed the Soviets during the war against the Nazi's, and rightly or wrongly they used them against us ten years later. You can go further if you want. You could say we encouraged Prussian Militarism during the era of the Crimean War, and 50 years later Prussia was no longer just a small state who held its traditions near and dear to its heart, it was a militaristic nation of many states vying for its place in the world and trying to knock us off the top." Tulip smiled, "Well I'm glad to hear were on the same page. Any more news of Alex or Jane Bedfordshire?" Russell's smile turned to a grimace. "I'm sad to say no, but I'm fed up of being inside. I'm going to take a small forensic team out and see if the body is still there, most likely not, and see if there any clues on who took it, what they wanted or want, why they want it, and what their end goal is? I'll report back to you as much as I can." He gulped down his tea and buttoned up his jacket. Time to get back down to business. Driving through the narrow streets of London never got old, giving the same rush it always had done, and the day he stopped feeling it he was as good as dead as he was concerned. Climbing out of the car he looked up at the grand building of metal and glass. "My oh my, I see why it's called the Crystal Glass Column." The winter sun reflected off the side of the glass building with a bluish tint. He walked inside, now he would begin his through surveying like a wolf does his prey. Unbeknownst to him, his search would be in vain, they hadn't left a trace…

Back in the metal box, the pair of them were awoken by the almighty sound of the ships foghorn going off. As well as the horrific sounds, which managed to break through the sound proofing the box contained, the weirder thing was the vibrations which were sent across the ship and into the box. Alex tried to stand up but was thrown to the floor by the motion of the vessel. "Oh, this feels odd. I'm pretty sure we're on a boat, I'm not sure where though, could be anywhere." Alex waited for them both to fully wakeup, and then he began thinking of ways to get out. All of a sudden everything clicked. He watch clicked as the second hand reached the 15 minute mark. 03:15 AM. His watch, it had been modified by MI6 soon after his return to the UK. They had installed a tracking beacon which could be activated if the correct procedure was carried out, as well as a whole array of weird and wonderful gadgets. "How on earth are we going to break out of this box, we have no tools and we can't break out with our bare hands. You know that as well as I do, if not better. " Alex looked at the wall. "I know this may sound stupid but I think I can great some sort of thermite explosive which will hopefully penetrate the wall of our tin prison. This watch has a fold out knife, he would scrape the old bolts which held the box together, providing him with rust. Rust would provide the Iron Oxide element, and there was plenty of Aluminium around them, and whilst they might not be able to break through it, they could still scrape shards of it off the walls, providing the aluminium. Combined with a catalyst which was in a small vial, the ingredients formed a small amount of thermite paste. Jane painted the concoction over the bolts on the metal container, and then they waited. At first they thought nothing at all would happen, and hope turned to dismay. But a brief moment later, a flash of white light blinded them, and the bolts had suddenly heated up. They were busted, with a good kick the panel would fall off, and so it did. "Now what?" Jane asked. Alex thought to himself. He hadn't considered what he would have to do once they actually broken out of the box in which they had been stored like fragile animals. "Well the first thing I'm going to do is send a signal to MI6 so they know where we are. Then we are going to try and find some clothes in one of the cabins which must be on this ship. Stay close, and follow me." He replied, holding her hand as they climbed down the container and found themselves on the top deck of a Baltic container ship. "Right, time to activate the watch's signal." Alex brought the watch up to his eye and looked closely at the movement of the hands. When the small red hand reached the 12 o clock position he pulled on the button which normally was used to adjust the time. A small silver capsule unwound which was laced in red wire which curled up the side of this silver capsule which would form and antenna. Every thirty seconds it would beam their location back to MI6 in London.

Out of the Baltic straits and on dry land, Tulip Jones was relieved to hear the shrill tone of an emergency beacon. A map appeared on the screen in front of her, showing Alex's position. "Get all our best men on this; we need to bring our boy home and quick. He is a key asset and cannot be lost." She said out loud, and mumbling to herself she acknowledged "He only just got back, the poor kid deserved a break, not a kidnapping."

Alex and Jane rushed from the top deck to the central set of stairs. "Somewhere here there should be a map." Alex noted, as they looked around. Jane whispered "What about this, I don't understand the language but the map seems to make sense. I think the bedroom and crew quarters are two floors below. How do we get there without being spotted? We can't exactly blend in, we are just in our underwear." Alex was happy that there was some hope of them sneaking off the boat alive, but the prospect of reaching the bedrooms down below was looming over him and would be a tough call. He put a finger to his lip, signalling for Jane to be quiet. He thought to himself as the wind whistled over them. "I think that there were some ropes tying the containers down, we could use them as rappelling ropes to reach the deck two floors below. I'll hold the rope and you're going to slowly climb down it until to reach the deck, where you will get onto it and tie the rope down. At this point I will shimmy down the rope as well and join you." Jane's face said it all, she was terrified of it. She didn't like heights and rappelling on a good day in a safe environment would be a no, but on a windy night on a freezing cold body of water things couldn't have been worse. "Come on, both our lives are in your hands, I'm sure you can do it. You're more capable than you think, more than just a receptionist." He said trying to encourage her, rather hopelessly, but Jane trusted Alex. "Okay...let's do this..." She said taking deep breaths as she looked overboard. Alex threw the rope over the railing which lined the top deck, and Jane took hold of the rope. She slowly moved down the rope, and things were going well until she passed the first floor. At this point the wind picked up even more, and she began swinging slightly on the rope, making it harder for Alex to keep his grip on the rope secure. "Jane, please go as quick as you can, I'm not sure how long I can hold out." He called out, and she frantically moved down the last bit of brown rope until he toes brushed against the railing. "I'm here, I'll tie the rope and you can make your way down." She did as she said; using all the basic skills from her Girl Scout training from her not so childhood, and Alex followed her path down the rope. "Well that was pretty hard." He said to her, almost laughing as they were rather exhausted at this point. "Let's check these rooms for clothes, you start at this end of the deck and I'll go the other, and if you think there is anything else which is useful then grab it." He said as he snuck off in the direction of the first cabin. Jane cautiously opened the first door and there was little in there, but there was a white shirt which was rather tight on her. It would have to do, this wasn't exactly the situation to be fussy in. However in the next cabin she found some more useful items; black tight sports leggings which were perfect for her and a pair of red running shoes which were slightly too big for her but would surely come in handy in a frantic situation. The only other item of interest she found was a sharp, serrated knife with a large point which she took just in case for an emergency or a fight. Meanwhile Alex looked in the other rooms. He put on a black t shirt and some military trousers which were slightly long for him. There were no shoes that he could fit into however which would make things slightly more difficult. The pair of them reconvened in the middle of the deck. "Now we need to get off this wretched boat. There must be some sort of life raft thing that we can hijack and use to get off the ship unnoticed. It will be at the back of the boat, away from the men who I presume are controlling the boat." He said as he directed her cautiously towards the stem of the ship. When they got there was one man standing on watch, looking out into the distance as the wind rushed through his hair and he smoked a cigarette. Alex took the knife that Jane had cleverly found, and through it through the air with a spiral motion. It lodged itself in the man's back, and after a short gasp, the only sound he made was the thud when he hit the ground. As they had suspected, there were two life rafts which came with oars. They were attached to the side of the ship and had to be slowly lowered into the water. "One of us has to be in the boar, and the other of us will have to jump in. I presume you don't want to be a part of any more daredevil stunts today, so I will lower you in the boat down to the water and I will meet you there." said Alex, as he winked at her. He wound down the lever keeping the boat up, as she held onto the oars and balanced herself in the boat. When it reached the water, Jane pushed the boat away from the huge ship so that Alex wouldn't hit himself as he jumped into the sea. Alex took a deep breath as he clambered over the railings and prepared to plunge into the ice cold, dark blue water. He made his jump, and less than a few seconds later his whole body pierced the water like a spear. Then his body suddenly shot with pain, strain from hitting the water mixed with the perishing cold of the icy conditions took its toll and fast. He had to get out; he pulled his head above the water and heard Jane calling for him. He regained his senses and swam over to the boar where she helped him up. "Well that didn't go too bad, did it?" He said smiling at her. As they began to paddle away, towards the coast ahead of them, the large vessel from which they had just left turned starboard. The containers, which had once been tied down, were now free to move. Just like Lego bricks in a model which isn't properly put together, the containers fell apart, spilling over the ship. It was at this point, large searchlights turned on and they scouted the water for anything suspicious. They hadn't made any more than fifty metres of progress before the ships light from above found them. The iconic sound of an FN FAL spurting rounds towards them sent a shot of terror down Alex's spine. The iconic weapon, born in the Cold War era and made for the whole of NATO to use, was called the "Right arm of the free world" due to its immense power and capability. The bullets ripped the small boat to shreds, with Jane and Alex thrown into the water. The one thing the men hadn't accounted for was that once in the water, it would be much harder to find their valuable escapades. Blending in with the black water, they managed to slowly but surely swim to the shore of a small cove which was sheltered by the mainland. They climbed up the beach before they reached a small shack, in which they collapsed upon. "My oh my Alex, I understand why you don't have the energy for school, this is exhausting work" Jane said, happy to be alive. Alex looked into her eyes; she was still nervous and running on adrenaline. The severity of the situation they had endured was yet to hit her, and the long term consequences remained to be seen. Alex agreed with Jane, he was just happy that they were both safe. But on the other hand he was also rather worried. Why had those men targeted Jane? How had they known that Alex would be there?

Jane shivered slightly in her wet clothes, and Alex looked at her laughing slightly. "Had I known we were holding a wet t shirt competition I would have brought a camera to take a picture of the winner." He said, making her slightly awkward this time and getting his own back for her jibes at him earlier. Whilst he may have been joking around with her, her incredible figure and body was undeniable and he struggled to hide his excitement over her. "Well I'm glad that you like this look, "The sexy receptionist dragged through the cold sea" one." She said as she removed the top. She leant in and kissed Alex for a few moments. He was slightly shocked, but didn't pull away from it either. It felt natural, and it was. Whilst there might have been an age gap between them, there was a natural connection due to their similar circumstances and understanding of one another. He reciprocated the gesture, and soon their lips were running over each other like a train on tracks. Alex ran his hands over her curvy body, and it felt immense. He felt the blood rush around his organs and his hearts beat like never before. Whilst he would love to take things further, and there was obviously something between him and Miss Bedfordshire, it was driven by lust and teenage fantasy rather than love most likely. Alex still truly loved Sabina, so pulled himself away from Jane's body. "Sorry Miss, I think you have an incredible body, and as you may have guessed, for many years I've had a crush on you, I think we shouldn't do anymore. I don't want you to do something you regret in the future." Jane smiled; Alex was mature beyond his years, more of a man than most of the men she had fallen for. "Of course Alex, I understand why it might feel a bit weird for you, and thank you for the compliments." She said, and then her face changed slightly, stopping for a moment to think. "Alex, are you doing anything for Christmas? It's...it's just that my brother was my only remaining family, and now that he has gone I've got no one to spend Christmas with." Alex's face lit up, "Ooh we aren't doing much, just me, Jack my guardian, and Sabine will be celebrating Christmas with us. You are more than welcome to join us."

Whilst they chatted amongst themselves, the dark night sky above them became clearer and the stars lit up the landscape, alongside the white beam of the moon. The pair of them drifted off to sleep as they waited for MI6 to collect them...

THE END...

For now at least...


End file.
